When I think atomic, I usually think Japanese. Traditionally Casio, and increasingly Seiko. I'm happy to report, however, that it's time to start thinking German, as well.

Not only is the new Junghans Mega 1000 atomic, but it's a worldwide atomic watch, as well, which means it is capable of receiving time signals transmitted by almost all the atomic clocks in the world. The Junghans Mega 1000 can calibrate with atomic clocks in Mainflingen, Germany, Fort Collins, Colorado, and the two atomic clocks in Japan (the only one missing is the one in Rugby, England, but I think the theory is that the one in Mainflingen has Europe pretty well covered). Multi-time signal functionality definitely the new trend in atomic watches as evidenced by the new Seiko Brightz worldwide atomic watch, and the new Casio Triple-region Waveceptor.

Features of the Junghans Mega 1000 include:

• World-wide atomic functionality.
• Manual synchronization (meaning that instead of waiting for the watch to synchronize in the middle of the night, you can force it to synchronize at any time -- pretty standard feature for atomic watches).
• Automatic DST adjustment.
• Easy time zone adjustment when traveling.
• Dual time (monitor the time in a second time zone).
• Automatic date.
• Reception indicator (lets you know whether the watch has been synchronized recently).
• Stopwatch with split time memory and a resolution of 1/100th of a second.
• Countdown timer.
• Daily alarm.
• Electro-luminescent backlight.
• Low battery indicator (expect about 2 years out of the Mega 1000's battery).
• Multiple display languages (English, French, and German).
• Mineral glass crystal.
• Water-resistant to 5 bar, 50 meters, or 165 feet.

If you can read German, check out Junghans' site for more information, or you can download the Mega 1000 instruction manual (PDF, multilingual).

If you're a regular Watch Report reader, you know how much I love the combination of atomic and solar, which usually means Casio. It looks like Seiko is getting serious about their atomic solar collections, however, and has announced the first atomic watch which works worldwide. Of course, "worldwide" means wherever there is an atomic clock, which is Japan (Fukushima and Kyushu), Germany (Frankfurt), and the US (Fort Collins, Colorado). In contrast, the atomic Casios I have only work in Japan and the US (and unfortunately, Casio makes plenty that only work in Japan).

Initially, the watches will be additions to the Seiko Brightz line, which I love. Features will include:

• Worldwide radio-controlled atomic time calibration (Japan, Germany, and the US).
• Solar powered. When fully charged, the battery will hold enough power to run continuously for 6 months, or 1.5 years using the power saving function.
• Manual receiving function (which means you can calibrate the watch without waiting for its scheduled calibration time which is the middle of the night).
• Receive results display function (which means the watch will let you know that it has successfully calibrated).
• World time in 24 time zones.
• Automatic hand adjustment. If the hands become misaligned (as hands sometimes do due to magnetism or shock), it will automatically realign them.
• Bright titanium case and bracelet.
• Water-resistant to 10 ATM (that's 10 BAR, 100 meters, or 330 feet).